Julie Chen Posts New Photo From ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ Set, Says She’s ‘Excited’ To Be Back On CBS Stage

The longtime 'Big Brother' host makes her return to CBS after her husband's sexual misconduct scandal forced him to resign from the network.

The longtime 'Big Brother' host makes her return to CBS after her husband's sexual misconduct scandal forced him to resign from the network.

Julie Chen is back! The longtime host has returned to the Celebrity Big Brother stage four months after exiting the daytime chat show, The Talk, as her husband, former CBS chief Les Moonves’, sexual misconduct scandal played out in the headlines.

Chen posted a happy photo to Instagram that shows her posing on the set of Celebrity Big Brother, which airs on CBS, the network that ousted her CEO husband following rampant sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced last fall. The scandal caused Chen to step down from her high-profile post as the moderator on The Talk, a position she had held since 2010.

Julie Chen’s new photo comes less than two weeks before Celebrity Big Brother’s second season premieres. The CBS personality, who has hosted the hit reality competition since its debut in 2000, captioned the pic by writing that she is “excited to be back on this stage.”

Many fans took to the comments section of the post to tell Chen they have missed seeing her on TV.

“Miss you on The Talk!” one fan wrote, while another added, “Glad you are back on Big Brother.”

“Yes, I’ve missed you Julie Chen!!!!” another follower wrote. “Your hubby screwed up not you, please go back to The Talk!”

After Les Moonves was forced to resign from CBS in early September, his wife of 14 years remained by his side. In a show of solidarity with her husband, in September, Julie Chen ended the final episodes of the summertime edition of Big Brother by signing off as “Julie Chen Moonves.” The CBS star had never used her married name on the CBS reality show in 18 years.

Julie Chen stepped down from The Talk in early September, just as the show’s 9th season was set to begin, with Carrie Ann Inaba ultimately filling her spot at the table. Sources close to Chen told CNN at the time that Julie Chen left The Talk after deciding “her main focus needs to be clearing her husband’s name from accusations made 25-30 years ago and tending to her son.”

In November, CBS made the surprising announcement that Julie Chen would return to host the celebrity edition of Big Brother, despite her husband’s awkward relationship with the network. The news is even more surprising since Moonves was not given a previously promised $120 million severance payment after the network investigated the allegations against him.

Julie Chen has said little publicly about the sexual misconduct allegations against her husband. Chen’s one statement on the topic, posted to Twitter last summer, read: “Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”

Before her resignation from The Talk, Chen said her Twitter statement would be her one and only statement on the allegations against her husband and that she would stand by it “today, tomorrow forever.”